I found Symphony No. 14 much more rewarding. Its theme is Death—cruel, implacable, inevitable—concerning which the musical message is delivered at least as fervently as that of No. 7. However, No. 14 brings more raw honesty, laden with ironic subtexts, to the shoot-out.

The “Leningrad” Symphony is one of those works where the opening theme can almost predict what the interpretation will be like as a whole. Petrenko is slow and almost solemn…Petrenko plays the haunting passage that follows beautifully, with an underlying hint of menace. The almost Brahmsian return of the main theme near the end of the first movement is absolutely gorgeous…

The beginning of the second movement has an excellent swing and flow that continues with the bass clarinet solo after a central climax that is note-perfect…The light textured, accompanying strings are outstanding. Petrenko pays great attention to subtle background details without sounding fussy. In the Adagio, Petrenko again micromanages details very effectively…The transition to the fourth movement is chilling, and Petrenko whips the orchestra into a frenzy in the ensuing Allegro. He builds the finale slowly and inexorably. The massed brasses produce a remarkably unified sound (Petrenko has built the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic into a world class ensemble).

The engineer holds things together remarkably well at the big climaxes with no congealing of instruments or collapse of the sound stage. The bass is solid…Fine instrumental detail is very good.

In this compelling performance Petrenko…is clearly a committed advocate of the score demonstrating that he has the full measure of the scale of Shostakovich’s writing. The full-bodied sound from the Liverpool Phil is highly effective and the wide dynamics and vivid climaxes are wonderfully controlled. In the final movement Petrenko from around 13:00 allows the music gradually to gather in weight and intensity, becoming louder, sustaining a profound seriousness. This culminates in a drama of electric intensity.

It must be said straightaway that the orchestral playing on display in this latest instalment of Petrenko’s Shostakovich cycle is an absolute triumph. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is in fabulous shape…and the playing is truly world class.

Vasily Petrenko continues his cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies with this stellar entry of the controversial Seventh. The first movement reading is maybe the finest I’ve ever encountered on recording. Petrenko delivers an excellent rendition of the invasion theme and its Bolero—like buildup.

Petrenko keeps a firm grip on the musical narrative at all times, so much so that we never lose track of the unfolding story. Even the second subjects, counter motifs, and ideas tossed around within the orchestral fabric are always clearly audible, and therefore influence our perception of this work. This is most evident during the expertly paced and highly expressive slow movement.

Great performances of this massive symphony aren’t exactly thick on the field, but my goodness, this is one of them. Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic play with 100 percent commitment in every single bar.

…Petrenko and his strings take such care to characterize even simple accompaniments helps us to understand just why this performance is so compelling.

For too long, Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony has been used as a musical battering ram in the concert hall and this performance shows just how good it can be when given a sympathetic and well thought out reading.

Petrenko has admirably conveyed the complexity and the pathos of this symphony in a way seldom achieved by other more starry conductors and the result is a finely paced unfolding of the drama from the whisper of the strings to the full orchestral tutti with driving brass and percussion and wailing woodwind giving a terrifying account of the horrors of war.

Petrenko and the RLPO’s recording of Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony stands apart as a treasurable, terrific affirmation of a towering masterpiece…

The Royal Liverpool Phil’s cycle of Shostakovich symphonies stands apart from all previous recordings for its edginess and its youth. [Vasily Petrenko] performs the ‘Leningrad’ Symphony not as a relic of an historic event but as a work of music that demands objective interpretation in a different century.

…what’s most immediately striking about this recording…is the unparalled way Petrenko handles the softer passages. It’s not, however, simply a matter of volume: the quieter passages are notable, as well, both for their subtle shading and for their exquisite colour (try the haunting tone of the flutes, harp, and bass clarinet starting at rehearsal 97, 8’49” in the second movement or the gossamer sounds of the muted violins after rehearsal 189, 9’56” in the finale). Rarely have you heard the end of the second movement die away so magically.

Throughout the performance, Petrenko plays up the contestatory nature of the counterpoint, encouraging competing lines to jostle for our attention.

Yet for all this heightened contrast, the performance never seems out of proportion, much less flashy…the pacing is always convincing…Rhythms are consistently resilient and well articulated, balances are sure…the orchestral timbres have tremendous character throughout…Petrenko, though, will keep you riveted from first note to last…The orchestra plays brilliantly throughout, with superlative work from the soloists (special praise due to the first oboe). The sound is the best I’ve heard, even in this series; I hope a Blu-ray edition is in the works.

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